REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

Synopsis of Requiem For A Dream

Based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr., this gritty drama concerns four people trapped by their addictions. Harry (Jared Leto), and his best friend Tyrone (Marion Wayans) are impoverished heroin addicts living in Coney Island, NY, while Harry's girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) is a fellow addict trying to distance herself from her wealthy father. Harry dreams of scoring a pound of smack, from which he could make enough money to open a clothing boutique with Marion, but so far he and his friends can barely scrape by supporting their own habits. Meanwhile, Harry's mother Sara (Ellen Burstyn), who spends her days watching television, is told she has the opportunity to appear on her favorite game show; wanting to lose enough weight to fit into her favorite red dress, she visits a sleazy doctor who gives her a prescription for amphetamines. Soon Sara has a drug habit of her own that is spiraling out of control. 

During the Fall, all characters fall into depression as there's no more heroin in Brooklyn. Marion out of cash and in need for drugs, decides to become a prostitute to satisfied her addiction. Harry and Tyrone drive away together to Florida, and on the way Tyrone notices Harry's horribly infected arm. They go to a hospital, but as Tyrone waits outside for Harry, the police walks in and they get arrested. Mrs. Goldfarb becomes addicted to speed, and subsequently looses her sanity for not receiving a letter from her favorite show. She arrives at the TV station, skinny, pale and in poor health, and kindly asks to be on TV in front of the shocked workers. They call the police, and they take her to the hospital, where she is bound in a vest and is forced to eat. In the meantime, Marion arrives at her dealer's house, and is promised to receive a baggie of heroin as soon as she'll take a part in a violent, lesbian sexual act, in front of dozens of viewers. At that time, the wardens in prison notice Harry's infected arm and send him to the hospital. At Brooklyn, Mrs. Goldfarb's health doesn't allow her to eat, and she signs on a contract for using unconventional tools on her. In a dreadful, horrifying ending montage, Mrs. Goldfarb receives Electric Shock Therapy and agonizes in pain while doing so, Harry's arm is amputated. Marion engages in the lesbian sexual act and Tyrone is doing community jobs in prison. We then see Marion in her apartment, satisfied with her bag of heroin; two friends visit Mrs. Goldfarb at the hospital, and they later cry as they see her skinny as a stick and pale; Tyrone agonizes in his bed, having a hard time without in prison his drugs and remembering his loving, lost mother; and eventually, Harry lying alone in the hospital without his left arm, dreaming about the lost woman in red on the docks and his shattered dreams as he fantasizes about him falling from a roof.

The scene of Requiem For A Dream that I liked.

First of the scene that I liked it is Sara buys back the television set, as she has done many times before, from pawnshop owner Mr. Rabinowitz, who suggests that Sara ask the police for help with her son. Sara refuses, explaining that Harry is all that she has. This is show that how Sara was love him and take care of him, no matter how many times he son steal her television and buy drugs.

Besides that, I also liked that When Sara discovers she is too plump to fit into the dress, her friend helps her start a strict diet and Sara becomes obsessed with all the foods that she is now forbidden to eat. This was also show their friendship goals between Sara and her friend. Moreover, the scene that I also liked it is the power of love between Harry and Marion. Harry was support and encouragement from Harry to open her own clothing design business. Therefore, he and one of his friend, Tyrone sell the heroin and use part of the huge profits to finance Marion's clothing business.

Lastly, the scene that I like it and let me feeling touching is Harry, happy that he might finally be on his way to a satisfying life, visits his mother and apologizes for his past behavior. At her apartment, he notices that Sara is gaunt and grinding her teeth, and asks if she is on drugs. Sara admits to taking diet pills, but, claiming that she has no reason to live without a husband or son to look after, refuses to give up the one thing that makes her feel good and helps her lose weight. Harry begs her to quit, knowing from experience how drugs can destroy her life, but she demurs.

The Scene of Requiem for a dream that I disliked 

First of the scene that I dislike it is Harry steal Sara television and buy drugs. After that, Harry and his friend, Tyrone C. Love, "get high" on the drugs. In this scene, they use close shot to expression drug of abuse.

Besides that, the scene that I also disliked it is When Sara's cravings become overwhelming, she gets a diet pill prescription from an unscrupulous physician and returns home, scoffing at the refrigerator, the symbol of her cravings. The pills make her frenetic, and as she cleans and rearranges her entire household, she begins to fidget and sweat profusely. Meanwhile, the effect of the diet pills is dwindling for Sara and she increases her dosage, causing her to hallucinate that she is actually on the game show. In her mind, the show's host appears in her apartment with the glamorous television version of Sara and they criticize and laugh at the real Sara along with the television audience. Suddenly the walls break apart, revealing that her entire apartment is a television set. Everyone then parades around her reclining chair, chanting "feed me Sara, feed me Sara." Sara, disheveled and unkept, flees the apartment and takes the subway to Malin and Block, the company that promised her a television appearance. There, she demands to know why they have not called her. The office personnel, certain that Sara is mentally ill, call the police, who take her to a psychiatric ward. 

In the psychiatric ward, Sara, completely incapable of communicating, fails to respond to the hospital attendants' attempts to force-feed her, and so the doctor orders electric shock treatment. This scene of the use of camera was turn around many times and the light was keeping flash, let people dizzy and confuse. 

Conclusion

This ranks up there as one of the three most powerful movies I have ever seen in my lifetime. This movie shows the brutal honest side of addiction and over-indulgence. Not just drugs, although it heavily shows drug addiction. Also shows how one addiction can lead to another and how damaging it can be for you. The acting is wonderful - Ellyn Burnstyn and Jenniffer Connely are just wonderful in this movie, and Marlon Wayons was such a shocker in a serious role. All of the characters have drugs (the bad kind) affect their lives, which eventually take over their lives. The movie documents how for each of the 4 people are effected and eroded by drugs. The look of the film is extremely stylized, but justifiably so. Aronofsky uses surreal imagery as a vehicle for realism, something that really works when done well, and done well it was. By using a combination of slow and fast motion shots, extreme close-ups and more edits than you can shake a stick at, Aronofsky successfully brings the audience into the world and mind of someone with a drug problem. The audience visually experiences first-hand what it is like to be 'scared' or 'high'. Therefore, drugs will let you get in trouble and affect your life forever.